Thanks, SR and others. You sure get the facts here ! It's not only the 777s from BA, the 747s are the same. The Qantas and Singapore 747s all have the flaps down for much much longer and are noticably higher and all heading West (I live at Concord). The first time I noticed this was when a BA 747 came over clean, low and very fast (and noisy. but I love it. The trucks going past my front door are much noisier. I don't know what all the aviation noise fuss is about )
Virgin A340s also still have the flaps down.
Now, where do I make a post about a Qantas 747 with what looked like a fire blackened No 3 engine ? I'll have to dig my diary out for the details. Met with a wall of silence at the time, but having discovered this site it sure looks like the place to air it. Just need to know where to post the details.
Fred